


Carousels, Mazes, and Wickeness In All Forms

by penguinpatrolerarmy



Category: Heathers (1988), Heathers: The Musical - Murphy & O'Keefe
Genre: AU: Something Wicked This Way Comes, Carnival Of Fears, Gen, Light Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-10-26 12:47:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20742443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/penguinpatrolerarmy/pseuds/penguinpatrolerarmy
Summary: Chandler and McNamara's Pandemonium Shadow Show rolled into town at 3 am, followed by an eerie calliope and a few curious on-lookers.





	Carousels, Mazes, and Wickeness In All Forms

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [Scouts_Mockingbird](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scouts_Mockingbird/pseuds/Scouts_Mockingbird) in the [HallowHeathers](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/HallowHeathers) collection. 

"Veronica I'm telling you it's just a carnival." Heather sighed as they walked through the large gate.

"And I'm telling you we both know it's not! We saw what happened last night, it was anything but normal! Something is up with this place." Veronica insisted, "Besides, when was the last time you saw a carnival in late October?"

Heather mulled over this for a moment. It was true; carnivals and state fairs usually arrive during the summer months, maybe on occasion September, but never October. Never so late. Still, Chandler and McNamara's Pandemonium Shadow Show had rolled into town at 3 am that morning with an eerie calliope following its train cars, And Veronica was determined to look further into it. This Carnival was unnatural, that much she was certain of. However, the longer the day went on, the more it became apparent that this investigation of the grounds left little to the imagination. It really was just a normal carnival; Prize Corners, Ferris Wheels, and Mirror Mazes. Yet, Veronica felt she knew better. Or perhaps her gut instinct was just too stubborn to believe otherwise.

"Seriously, Heather... Something is _up_ with this place." Veronica murmured, "I can feel it. It's not all right here."

Heather sighed. Admittedly, she could feel it too. An unease with its presentation... Like a Halloween mask that was stuck on tightly. "Yeah but, don't you think we would have found something by now?"

Veronica opened her mouth to reply.

"Excuse me?" A man suddenly approached from behind. The two girls instantly recognized him.

"Waddaya want, Mr. Dean?" Heather asked. Bud Dean was slouched over them, a bit of a stench in his breath.

"I was wondering if you'd seen Jason; He went to play one of the games but He never came back."

Veronica and Heather exchanged a look of uncertainty. "We haven't seen JD all day, Bud." Veronica replied, "But we'll keep an eye out for him."

Bud stumbled off, appearing maybe a tad hungover. Not that the girls ever really had seen him entirely sober. Soon enough he was vanishing into the crowd, asking someone else about his current plight. Though, anyone with eyes would tell that this was more just Bud wanting to leave than him being concerned for his son. The two girls walked off in the opposite direction, both to get away from Bud and to cover different ground area.

"Well, knowing JD he's probably avoiding him." Heather decided.

"I think we should look for him... He's always doing that weird stuff."

"You have a point. If _anyone else_ in this town noticed something, it would be him."

Veronica glanced over, realizing they were near the exit of the Mirror Maze. Strangely, no one seemed to be around, No one was nearby talking about the maze or even waiting for others to emerge. She looked inside its strange doors, noticing an orange-red glow emitting from its halls. Shadows and light alike were dripping out from the entrancing entrance like fog... No, Smoke. It even smelled of smoke. Not only that, but something akin to ashes slowly poured out, dancing along in the October breeze as they left their confinement.

"Hey, is that a fire?" She tugged Heather's sleeve, pointing over. Heather, however, noticed something different.

"JD's in there, I can see his trenchcoat!" She exclaimed. The two rushed in, Immediately noticing a sudden rise in temperature. The mirrors made it difficult to make much sense of anything, but they eventually managed to reach in and grab JD by the arm. A woman appeared in one of the flames, surrounded by debris. Veronica stared at her... Her eyes seemed lifeless, yet her expression was one of bliss; an arm extended outwards towards JD. She pulled him back, Heather helping guide them all back out of the maze and into the field. The woman in the flames scowled at them, suddenly burning away in the ashes... Her skin almost seeming to melt.

Outside, it was once again cold... The three kids all caught up in chills despite the sweat and bits of grime on their clothes. They took a moment to catch their breaths. Heather looked back at the maze, suddenly perplexed. Veronica followed her gaze, almost by instinct. The mirrors no longer reflected an orange glow, rather a normal bright light came from them, as though just illuminated by the sun above and reflected through its halls.

JD meanwhile, swayed back and forth, caught in a strange trance. Heather waved an arm in front of him a few times. He blinked, shaking his head. "Crummy free ticket... Glad I didn't pay for that." He grumbled, gripping his temples.

"Are you okay, JD?" Veronica asked.

"I think I have a headache..."

They led him to a crate, letting him sit down and rub his hair for a minute.

"That definitely wasn't normal." Veronica noted, "That was almost... Evil."

JD chuckled, somewhat loopy. "...For a minute, I thought I saw my mom in there... Standing in the library, beckoning me towards her. But, it was just probably some hallucination from being trapped in there too long." Some tears were in his eyes, though his voice didn't sob or crack.

Heather blinked. "I think we saw that too... There was lots of fire and debris, right?"

JD seemed to break from the trance a bit, nodding. However, before any further discussions could be made, an older woman approached. "Now, what are a couple of kids like you doing around here?" she asked, "You should be running around, playing games and facing fears."

Veronica stood up. "We're just taking a break, ma'am... Our friend is a bit dizzy." She motioned to JD. The older woman glanced at him, then to the maze.

"Ah, Yes... Mirrors will do that to you." She seemed dumbfounded for a moment, quickly recovering. She reached into her coat pocket, pulling out three tickets. "When you feel less dizzy you should check out our carousel. We're giving out free tickets to compensate for it being out the first few days, but it's a nice whirl around." She held them out, almost like the woman in the mirror.

Veronica reluctantly took the tickets, pocketing them for the time being. "Thank you, Ms-" She hesitated to answer.

"McNamara, Heather McNamara." She went along her way, her gaze not leaving the kids until she'd vanished behind a wall.

"...She creeps me out." Heather Duke chimed, "You should probably burn those tickets."

"They're free tickets, Heather." JD butted, "It can't be that bad."

Heather looked over at him, glaring. "Weren't you sick and complaining about free tickets just a few moments ago?"

JD paused, glancing over himself. "...I feel fine now." He seemed confused as he said it, like he didn't believe his recovery himself. Heather frowned.

"That maze did something weird to you, JD... I think you should go home."

He shook his head. "I don't think I should leave... My old man might get pissy about it."

"We're not going anywhere." Veronica declared, "Something is clearly up with this place, I say we stake out here and see what happens when no one else is around."

JD and Heather exchanged looks of concern, but opted not to argue. They knew no matter what they did, they'd probably get roped in one way or another.

* * *

"Heather hurry up before they see you!" Veronica whisper yelled. Heather took one last leap, managing to just barely pull herself up on the tree limb. JD helped, gripping her sleeve and hoisting her the rest of the way. Below them stood the very carousel they'd been given tickets for earlier, as well as two figures checking their surroundings. One of which had been Heather McNamara. The other They recognized from the poster... Ms. Chandler. 

"Looks clear to me." McNamara determined.

Chandler scoffed. "Took you long enough, let's get this over with."

She went to the controls, the carousel starting up with a kick and a hum. The kids covered their ears as a calliope, not unlike the one heard from the train, started to blear through the air on the startup. The horses slowly spun round and round, going backwards instead of forwards. JD would never speak it, but he thought the music were familiar... Like he'd heard it once long ago. Yet, he never heard it in this fashion. If he had to guess, he'd probably say that the music was backwards as well. For a moment, the kids thought it might have just been a regular check... That perhaps this had been the reason it was out in the first place. Then, Heather McNamara lept up.

"What is she doing?" Veronica mumbled as she kept going round and round. Heather Duke, however, looked even closer.

"Hey... She looks younger." She murmured.

"Hey, she does!" JD confirmed. The carousel continued on its not so Merry-Go-Round, Heather McNamara appearing younger and younger and younger. Like a wax figure left out in the sun for a bit: Wrinkles an imperfections melting away and leaving behind a smooth youthfulness... Until, finally, she was a small girl. No older than JD, No younger than Veronica, and perhaps around the same age as Heather Duke.

The carousel came to a halt, the other woman helping her off the now too high horse. "Courtney said the boy's house wasn't far from here... If you can't get him back, get the father. His soul is just as cowardly."

"Surprised he was pulled out of the mirrors so easily... The adults even fell for them."

JD would be frozen in place, had it not been for the constant shaking. Veronica and Heather each placed a hand on him, though neither were sure if it were for support or to hold him back from doing something drastic and irrational

The other woman growled. "Those two girls got to him before his desires and anxiety did, I bet if they weren't so close to the exit they'd have fallen for them too. They're not just young in body, their souls are young... They were scared shitless by whatever they saw, Maybe we ought to grab all 3 of them."

"More souls means fewer trips for us, I don't see why we shouldn't... Not like anyone will suspect the friendly carnival faces."

There was a loud, quick snap; and suddenly The three kids suddenly fell to the ground. Duke ended up breaking JD and Veronica's fall, but that was accompanied by a different kind of a snap... Not the snap of a branch, but the snap of a bone. She yelped, holding her arm to her chest as her friends rolled off.

"You okay, Heather?" Veronica groaned, reaching out towards her. Heather Jerked back... Though, not because of Veronica. Rather, it was from the older woman, slowly reaching out towards the three of them. JD pulled his friends back, and soon the three of them were running off.  
The other two watched as they left.

"Another Heather," Ms. Chandler said with a crooked smile, "This should be interesting." She then noticed her younger counterpart, still standing around her. "What are you waiting for?"

The now younger Heather McNamara blinked, then scrambled off to trail the escape path the other three had left. Hopefully, this job would prove itself to be an easy one to do... And, if not, they had a whole week and a whole town of gullible townsfolk to pick off to their pleasings. 


End file.
